


Nico's proving grounds!

by xshamirx



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth is smart duh, F/M, Hazel is BAMF, I suck at tags, M/M, Nico isn't a kid, Percy is a Dork, Stuff happens, Will is worried, tournament
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-03-20 21:23:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3665526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xshamirx/pseuds/xshamirx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I love reading Nico/Will stories, but something becomes alarmingly clear in the majority of them. It's the idea that Nico is weak, that he can't use his powers too much (Under doctors orders) and that he is under constant fear of disappearing. While this is true to some degree, I wanted to see what would happen if Nico finally got tired of hearing it.</p><p>Cut to four years into the future. Nico and Will are a couple and are happy, except that Will has taken being overprotective to a whole new level. Now Nico must figure out a way to show Will that he isn't fragile. That in those four years he has grasped near full control of his powers and Will really needs to start acting like a boyfriend and not like an overbearing mother.</p><p>This is his story.</p><p>Also some awesome action scenes because why not right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Calm... well... slight rain before storm

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first forray into the fandom so be nice :P
> 
> I already wrote the first three chapters so keep your eye out for them to be uploaded every 5 days or so.
> 
> Comments and criticisms are loved!
> 
> I do not own any of these characters but this story is my own.

Nico emerged from the shadows at the back of his cabin with popcorn in hand and graciously sat down infront of the TV. It was Saturday night, which meant date night with his boyfriend, Will Solace. This weekend Hazel was due to arrive for a visit in the morning so Nico had nixed Will’s elaborate plan of a drive to New York for “Pizza that will put hair on your chest Di Angelo!”, whatever that meant, for a nice quite night in and rewatching the last season of Game of Thrones. 

Though quiet was an operative term seeing as Will could not stop groaning about their lack of popcorn. So when Will had taken a bathroom break Nico quickly shadow travelled over to the movie theater two towns over and bought some. It was partly to make Will happy, but mostly because Nico really wanted a quiet TV viewing experience. 

“Ok, my bladder has been voided an- is that popcorn?” Grinned Will, and his smile was infectious as Nico found himself smiling at his dorky boyfriend. They had danced around each other for a month of so before Nico decided he had lived enough of his life is fear and anxiety and asked him out. Will has begrudgingly said yes (‘You couldn’t have waited a couple of hours?! I had this whole set up with horses and the Aphrodite cabin playing trumpets!’) Nico was very glad he had not waited. 

“Yes, fresh off the machine, from your favorite low budget movie even.” He couldn’t help but boast. When he was younger Nico had pride himself on memorizing many tiny details about mythomagic, now he remembers stuff about his friends that has given him the reputation of being the best gift giver at birthdays and Christmases. Damn straight he was proud! 

“The theater in Farmington? You shadow travelled! Nico!” Will started arguing and the smile fell off Nico’s face. 

“Will it’s been 4 years. I not only haven’t had an incident since then but I have been training all this time. I have my powers under control, you know that!” Nico started get annoyed. It was sweet the first time around, with Will doting on him and making sure he didn’t overexert himself. Truth be told he had been happy for the healer’s help; but that was a long time ago and Nico had truly mastered his demi-god abilities, something only Hazel and Reyna seemed to understand. 

“You could have disappeared! This is just like the time you went on that mission by yourself!” 

“Gods, Will THIS AGAIN?!” Nico’s face started to contort into frustration. The mission itself had happened five months prior. Jason was away helping Thalia and the hunters of Artemis on something and Percy was aiding his father. Chiron had asked him if he could go empty a warehouse of some monsters since they had just come off a stymhalian birds raid while he was in the underworld on a task for his father. Nico had agreed and shadow travelled over to the warehouse. It took him the better part of the day but he had emerged victorious, but upon shadow travelling to camp he was met with a very irate son of Apollo. 

_“You should have taken me with you.” Will argued as he looked over the son of Hades while Nico talked with Chrion explaining the mission success._

_“You were busy in the infirmary, you were needed there, besides; I knew I could handle it.”_

_“You needed me Nico, Gods you could have been killed.”_

_“But I wasn’t. It just took a while and I knew I could handle it, if I wasn't sure, I would have asked.”_

_“You got lucky Di Angelo, don’t do it again.”_

At the time Nico had considered it a bit naggy but knew Will meant well and was only worried. Still, ever since then Will had become over bearing. Even Jason and Percy were never this bad. He had taken to being the only one to spar with Nico (‘Jason doesn’t know his own strength sometimes, and Percy will poke out his own eyeball, imagine what he can do to you! This way is safer Nico, trust me.’) and had pretty much demanded from Chiron to always be included on any mission parties Nico went on. This was especially annoying to the other members of the team since Nico was always appointed leader, found it hard to lead when Will was constantly telling them how Nico’s plans were too dangerous or that Nico had to only be as back up. Nico had slowly been reaching his boiling point. 

“Nico, you can’t just shadow travel away! You powers are stronger, sure but that doesn’t mean you can’t get sucked into the shadows again!” 

“Will, I am not some kid you need to be protecting, I can handle my powers now and myself, I need you to be my boyfriend and not my mother!” 

“Somebody needs to make sure you’re ok!” 

“And somebody needs to back off!” Nico said, he had had enough for one night. With a little concentration the shadows stretched from the corners of the room and engulfed Will, and the next thing Will knew, he was stanging outside and facing the door of the Hades cabin. 

“ARGH!” Will grumbled into the night. “Nico, we need to talk about this.” Will knocked firmly on the black door of his boyfriend’s cabin. Unbeknownst to him, the boy inside was long gone, an empty room inside.  


***

  


Hazel was just finishing packing her bag on the table of her and Frank’s apartment. They were leaving first thing in the morning to Camp Half-Blood, she was excited to see Piper and Anabeth and Jason and Percy and the others (Nico visited enough via Shadow Travel, but she was also excited to see him too). 

“So about tomorrow…” Frank looked up at Hazel from where he was sitting on the couch. “Are we shadow travelling or…” Hazel smiled. She knew Frank didn’t exactly like the idea of it, plus she wasn’t as adept as Nico was with it. Truth be told she had only ever used it a handful of times. During a mission or when she was stuck in a weird locale and really needed the bathroom. Over the years she had become adept at a different kind of travelling. By tunnels. Hazel could make the earth swallow her (and friends if need be) and the travel underground tunneling very quickly. It was nowhere near fast enough as shadow travel but it was significantly faster than a lot of other modes of transportation. She also learned that while underground she could sense the direction she was going like a compass (kinda like Percy and the ocean). 

“Tunneling, we can pop out by Farmigton before we get there to stock up on snacks before we go in.” Frank smiled. 

“It was nice of Nico to be ok with me staying in your cabin.” 

“Don’t thank me yet, we may have to deal with Will sleeping over… and Will snores ver- Nico?!” 

Hazel sensed her brother barely a second before the shadows pooled in the middle of the floor and Nico Di Angelo emerged from within. Frank jumped and tripped and fell behind the sofa. 

“I’m ok, I’m ok…” His head popped out from behind the furniture. He would never get over Nico’s impromptu visits. 

“Sorry Frank, can I borrow Hazel for a minute? Kay, thanks bye!” He said as the shadows once again surrounded him and now his sister and within another two seconds they were gone, leaving a very bewildered Frank in an otherwise empty apartment.  


***

  


“You really got to start giving me some warnings…” Said a slightly annoyed Hazel. It wasn’t the first time Nico had done this, he did it once on Bianca’s birthday and once on her own (“I had a dream that they took you back… I just had to make sure you were still here…”) but Hazel couldn’t stay angry. It was always for a good reason. Still, she had to admit, it was happening a lot more recently. 

“Sorry, it’s just-“ 

“Will?” She asked, as she tried to get comfortable. They were at a shrine of Hades. Jason had built it near the junkyard where Bianca was killed. Nico always brought Hazel here when he needed to talk to her in a hurry. Hazel’s guess was that he liked to be able to feel close to both his sisters. 

“YES!” He screamed as he threw his hands in the air. “He still treats me like I’m so fragile! Like any little bump and I’ll break into a million pieces.” His hands fell down to his sides and he sat down. Hazel smiled and went to sit beside him. The shrine was located on a cliff overlooking the remnants of a mining town. It was late enough that the lights shone out prettily enough but did not compare to the starts that were shining brightly in the night sky. 

“Frank got like that sometimes.” Nico’s head snapped up to look at his sister. Hazel smirked and continued. “It happened a couple of years back. He was very over protective, didn’t send me on any missions and kept trying to make sure I didn’t get hurt, even opted me out of training.” 

“What did you do?” Nico asked quietly. Not hearing this story before. 

“I reminded him who our father is.” Hazel smiled at the memory. “I asked Reyna for a mission and left with two others not telling Frank. He found out ofcourse. But by the time he got there I had already finished it.” She smiled as she remembered his face. 

_“Wha… what happened?” Frank had uttered at the state of the farm. A band of rouge Cyclops had been ravaging the countyside and Hazel had taken off with two children of Mars. When he had found out he had rushed off, not bothering to scold Reyna about how dangerous fighting one Cyclops was, let alone a horde of them. Arriving at the farm he had tracked them down to he had come across quite the sight. What had probably once been flat ground looked like earthquakes had ravaged the land. Giant hills of rock were everywhere and chains of steel seemed to have sprouted from the ground as well as spears and pikes and giant thorns across the landscape. In the middle sat 9 cyclops all bound with iron link chains holding them inplace. Next to them sat Hazel deep in thought, as well as two very frightened campers. The minute they saw him they ran over._

_“C-can we go home now?” Utter a girl named Maya, she was visibly shaken. The boy next to her was also wide eyed and seemingly speechless. Frank walked over to Hazel who had just noticed him._

_“Hey!” She skipped over. “Sorry about the farm, I’ve been sitting here thinking if I should put everything back like it was.” She looked back at the view around her, “Then again I quite like it as it is now… it has a certain charm about it? Right?” All frank could do was nod as she had smiled again._

_“Great! I’ll just bend the mist a little so that no one else will come here, and then sink the Cyclops into the ground and we can get going!” She had uttered as she started to concentrate and a fog seemed to roll off her hands to envelop the farmland she was on. It was all Frank could do but not and promise himself to never EVER get on her bad side._

Nico smiled proudly at his sister. Then a though suddenly occurred to him. “HAZEL! YOU’RE A GENIUS!” He jumped up. “I’ll just prove to Will that I can handle myself! Show him that I’m more than capable enough and that he doesn’t need to baby me so much!” He smiled before the shadows engulfed him once more. As Hazel’s own smile fell as she found herself stranded on the hill, with a sigh she smirked as the ground opened up around her and swallowed her whole. She’d be able to get to Frank and then to Camp tomorrow on time if she hurried, but Nico would definitely get an ear full for leaving her behind… YET AGAIN!


	2. The plan is revealed!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stakes are set and the Will is freaking out!
> 
> What will he do when he realizes what Nico's plan is?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I couldn't help but to post the first two chapters, lol. Chapter three is already written and four is on its way so look out for those later next week!)
> 
> Comments are loved guys! Really!
> 
> Unfortunately I have no tumblr (Finishing up my Master thesis... yet I still find time to write, lol)

“You want to do what?!” Asked Chiron again… praying to Zeus that he had heard wrong.

“You heard me, I want to have a three way capture the flag contest with Me, Percy and Jason and captains of our teams.” Nico responded again. H was standing in the Big House with Thalia and Jason (Who had both just returned from their mission) and the image of Percy through a Iris rainbow. 

“Why? Nico something like this had never even been thought of!” Chiron tried again to reason with the young son of Hades. He could already imagine the wanton destruction that could happen were this to occur. Whenever any capture the flag games were had it was usually just two teams, not three, never mind the logistics of it but they had all (Jason, Percy and Nico) been asked to stop participating in then once they had all turned 17 (which was last year for Nico, he found he actually kind of missed them) due to them becoming way more powerful than any of the others.

“For the glory of the Gods ofcourse… and err for fun?” Nico hoped he sounded realistic.

“Neeks, I just got back and I’m kinda tired, and Percy is way under the Pacific at the moment.” Complained Jason.

“Actually,” spoke up Thalia, getting a pleading glare from her brother, “We finished the mission three days ago, Jason convinced me to postpone our return and make a detour to Disney Land.” 

“I have no sister!” Glared Jason as Thalia just smirked and stuck out her tongue. 

“Oh come on Jace! It’s my job as big sister to get you in trouble now and again, besides, this sounds fun."

“I’m in!” Percy piped up from across the rainbow. “I’ve been dying for something to do other than run messages back and forth. Dad has me doing the equivalent of paper work with seashells, any excuse to get back will be good enough. I’ll pack my bags and be over there by midday tomorrow.” Percy smiled as the rainbow flickered and dissipated. 

“So?” Nico looked pleadingly up to Chiron, who could only sigh and think yet again that, immortal as he may be, he was really getting way too old for this.

“Rules must be set, and a large enough area designated as-“ he started to the happy giggling of Nico and Thalia.

***

“You seem oddly chipper this morning…” Said Will as he sat down beside a grinning Nico at their table at lunch. He had avoided Nico that morning and had been prepared to grovel a bit but stand firm that Nico could not be allowed to go using his powers willy-nilly. However it seemed that he had forgotten their fight from last night so he decided not to push it. It was probably from Hazel and Frank as well as Percy returning to camp a couple hours ago, atleast that was what Will decided to believe.

“Just peachy.” Smiled Nico as Hazel came over to sit beside him and Frank across from her on their table. They were soon joined by Percy (who had given Annabeth a welcome back kiss before going over to the big table) and Jason (Thalia was sitting with the other hunters at the Artemis table).

“I talked with Chiron like you asked Nico, Me and Frank are in.” Hazel smiled at her brother.

“Perfect.” He responded, to the bewildered look of Will.

“Talked to Chiron about wha-“

“That makes both our sisters!” Groaned Jason, interrupting Will’s question. 

“What are you guys talking about?!” He asked in irritation.

“You’re about to find out”, gestured Percy as Chiron cleared his throat to attract the attention of the campers.

“Tomorrow Camp Halfblood will be host to quite the event, the first three way capture the flag tournament between the sons of the big three!” His voice boomed out to the excited chatter that erupted after his declaration.

“Percy, Nico and Jason are going to go head to head to head in an all-out war, so to speak, to bring glory to their father’s name! Each Captain will select two cabins to aid him in his endeavor with each cabin sending in 10 campers as well as their cabin head. Since this is the first tournament of its kind there are some special rules that have been set into place.” Chiron continued, to the nervous glances that Will had started to give Nico.

“A large arena will be sectioned off to serve as the game grounds. We will also have two judges along with their own selected assistant junior judge to serve as overseers to make sure nothing is getting out of hand. To the east exit will be Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and head hunter of Artemis.” Chrion gestured to the girl in question who stood up to look at the campers.

“I’ll make sure that Jason doesn’t go crazy with the flying, and my arrows will ensure no one gets too rowdy.” She sat back down to cheers around her. 

“To the west we shall have out visitors from the Roman side, Hazel Levesque!” Hazel also stood up.

“It’ll be my job to make sure Nico doesn’t shadow travel outside of the Arena and I’ll also build the fence around it.” She smiled, then added “and both me and Thalia are going to make sure Percy obeys the rules.” They both looked over to Percy who shuddered under their glare. 

“Speaking of the arena fence.” Chiron continued. “There shall be twelve openings where campers may leave the arena if they so desire. If they leave, however, they may not enter again. Each will be guarded by a hunter of Artemis. The only campers who will be allowed to enter will be the Apollo Cabin kids, who shall serve as our medics. They may bring our campers who they deem unfit for battle and as such cannot be a part of any team.” He finished. The colour drained from Will’s face.

“ But that means I can’t be there with Nico.” Will spoke.

“Guess not Will, but don’t worry, I’ll promise not to overdo it.” Nico tried to counsel his boyfriend, secretly thankful for thinking of the perfect reason to not ask his Cabin to help him.

“The captains have until the end of tonight to recruit their respective team members and sub-captains. The referee’s as they are, may also select an assistant to help them with their duties, since this is quite the event you may have the rest of the day to train, talk strategy, recruit members or relax before the big event.” Finished Chiron as he stepped down to the conversation that erupted in his wake.

***

Will was frantic, Nico would be going into a battle with PERCY and JASON! Two demigods who were already heroes in their own right. Whose idea was this anyway! HE had gone to talk to Chiron to ask him to cancel it, but to no avail. His argument that he should atleast be allowed to join Nico’s team was equally shot down. He was currently pacing outside the Hades cabin waiting for his boyfriend to show up. Maybe if he argued his case with Nico, he could be persuaded to talk to Chiron so he could make an exception. Seeing the boy approach with Lou Ellen of all people in tow Will rushed over.

“I’ll get them ready, don’t worry Nico, we got this.” Said the eager girl as she ran off, Nico grinned as he walked towards Will.

“Nico! You have to ask Chrion to let me be on your team!” Will greeted his slightly annoyed boyfriend.

“Sorry Will, you heard him, you’re needed in case of any casualties. Plus I already have my two teams.” Apologized Nico, he really did hate seeing Will this worried but he was determined.

“Percy recruited Athena and Ares’ cabin! ATHENA and ARES!” Will repeated. 

“Damn it, that’s tough.” Nico cursed, that was quite a match up, he wondered who else Jason would choose. Jason had already acquired the help of the Stoll brothers and the Hermes Cabin, which left him one open spot to fill.

“Yea! Nico please promise me you’ll be careful! Stay on defense! You’re good on defense.” Started Will but Nico brushed him off. 

“I already have a battle strategy planned Will, I just need to talk to one more person.” Nico smiled at him before he started walking away, “I’ll see you for dinner ok?” He gave his boyfriend a quick kiss before he started for the woods.

***

Jason knocked twice and waited before Leo Valdez opened the door and gave him a sad smile. “

“Sorry dude. He beat you to it.” Jason’s face fell.

“Leo! C’mon! You’re one of my best friends!” Jason started arguing as Leo laughed. “Can’t guilt trip me bro. Besides, I thought you would ask Piper.”

“I need someone on defense! Aphrodite kids aren’t that great. One on one sure, but with three teams it starts to get complicated. C’mon Leo, I need you!” Jason pleaded.

“Sorry man, Nico already asked and I already said yes.” Leo apologized again as he shut the door leaving a very bewildered Jason with no idea what to do. With a sigh he started walking back to his cabin, thinking of what other cabin he could ask assistance from. Demeter? Great if you’re in the woods but as he looked up to see Hazel causing huge spires to rise up to form a wall surrounding part of the lake, he knew that Demeter kids would get annihilated in open space. Dionysus? Tempting but he couldn’t trust them not to cause mass madness on everyone in the vicinity… Suddenly inspiration hit him and he raced to find Clara Davies. He had a plan!


	3. Dawn of the First... umm couple of hours I guess?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game begins! How will our intrepid heroes fare?!

It was the morning of the great three way capture the flag tournament. Hazel had built a large circular fence surrounding a rather large portion of camp halfblood. A section of the lake was within the border as well as a large portion of the forest, two clearings and a bit of the mountain range to the north. In addition to this to the west and east there were two large platforms towering above the fence, on the east exit was Thalia, all geared up, and sitting in the shade of an outcrop was Piper, looking very ticked off.

“Still mad Jason didn’t ask the Aphrodite cabin to be one of his teams?” Thalia asked, Piper jus huffed and looked away. 

“I don’t want to talk about it… plus did you know he asked the Nike Cabin! NIKE!” She repeated as she sank lower into her seat. Thalia giggled, thinking ‘Bro you are a doofus, win or lose today you will definitely have some groveling to do.”

To the west was Hazel, sitting on a bench made of stone, an eagle perched on the back. 

“Remember Frank, you need to help me make sure nothing iffy is going on. Also keep an eye on Will? I wouldn’t be surprised if he does something dumb.”

On the ground Will sneezed, as he double checked that all the relevant supplied were at hand.

“Ambrosia? Check. Bandages? Check. Gauze… Gauze? Where’s the GAUZE?!” He shouted 

“Relax a little big Bro, I know you’re hyped up because your boyfriend is in there but he’ll be fine! His dad is one of the big three remember? Plus the gauze is to your left.” Kayla laughed as Will grabbed it and carefully put it inside his emergency satchel, while simultaneously giving her a glare.

***

  


“Since this is a three way match, some additional rules were set to determine the winner.” Started Chiron, addressing the three sets of people all gathered around him. Behind them the rest of the camp looked on. Some with jealousy, others with relief. 

“There has been a point system that we will use this time around. Each team now has three flags instead of one and each flag is worth 10 points. So capturing flags will boost your score up significantly. In addition, each camper is worth 2 points, each sub-captain is worth 5 points and each captain is worth 15 points. You may only take one flag at a time from a team and you may only start to retrieve a new flag once that flag is back at your base or has left your possession. The game will go on for a full 24 hours or until one team scores 100 points, whichever comes first.” Chiron looked towards Jason, Percy and Nico who all nodded in understanding.

“A team may attempt to rescue its captured members or its flags. There will be no lethal force used and no going outside the designated zone. Beyond these rules anything goes. You may bring as much materials as you can carry with you…” Chiron continued as he eyed the giant backpacks every one of the Hephaestus kids carried behind them. “And you will all be entering from different sides of the zone. You have one hour to go in and designate a campsite, at which point we will deliver food and water for a night for you all. Any questions?”

“How much wood does a wood chuck chuck?” Piped up Leo, to the sniggering of the Hermes Cabin and Percy and to the eye rolls of everyone else.

***

  


“Understood?” Annabeth asked her team. Percy had left the strategy to Annabeth and Clarisse, which was the best idea he had had in a while. Huddled between both of his sub-captains he was very glad they were on the same team. Annabeth had picked the north clearing as their base of operations. A small stream trickled by a few feet from them. Clarisse had correctly stated that building camp near the lake, while giving them an advantage with Percy, would be very predictable. Annabeth had suggested the clearing. It was surrounded with enough trees that it would take Jason a while to spot them, but with enough light filtering through that Nico wouldn’t have a lot of shadows to work with.

“We need to win this before night fall, which gives us seven hours.” Calculated Clarisse. In seven hours it would get dark. The darkness meant that Nico would have the advantage.  
“Nico’s best bet would be to go on the defensive until then. No doubt giving Leo time to organize some contraption as a backup.” Continued Annabeth.

“So we attack Nico first?” Asked Percy, amazed that Annabeth had picked up so much so fast.

“Won’t be easy, Lou Ellen will have probably already started manipulating the mist to hide their presence. Nico is playing the waiting game to deal a quick blow. He probably will try and get us and Jason’s team to attack.” Clarisse expounded.

“So we don’t attack Jason?” Percy continued, trying to keep up with the meaningful stares Clarisse was trading with Annabeth.

“Jason is easier to attack though. My bet, he doesn’t have a set camp. Nike’s children can run really fast and can predict events to some degree. Clara explained it to me a while back. They get a feeling for victory and for defeat. If they feel like their winning, they’ll press on, if not, the retreat. My bet is that they’ll keep on the move.”

“Being fast isn’t the same as being good in a fight. Just retreating won’t get them anywhere.” Replied Clarisse, drawing a diagram in the soft dirt. 

“Still, with Nico’s base hidden and Jason’s base always moving, this will be harder than expected.” Finished Clarisse.

“What about the Stoll brothers? What does the Hermes Cabin bring to the table?” Asked Percy, causing both Annabeth and Clarisse to look over at him. 

“Crap.” They both said in unison as Annabeth rushed over to the flags and Clarisse banged on her shield.

“STATIONS EVERYONE!” She yelled, before shouting to Percy “Make sure Annabeth is ok!” She yelled as the campers started to mill about. Percy ran over to where the flags were located, water pooling around his feet and torso to see Annabeth fighting with both Connor and Travis who both seemed to be laughing. Still, Annabeth was clearly holding her own. Looking around Percy suddenly realized that campers were in the middle of a battle. Percy cursed under his breath as he concentrated and long ropes or water surged forth to grab a few of the Hermes children.  
“Above you!” Someone shouted and Percy instinctively looked above to see the oncoming figure of Jason flying towards him. Percy ducked and simultaneously send a column of water after the son of Zeus. 

“Percy!” Clarisse shouted behind him, Percy ignored her as he concentrated on Jason. He was flying towards the Lake. 

“Wrong move bro.” Percy smiled as he ran after him, already he started concentrating on the waters of the lake, pulling them towards him. Running through the forest was a bit difficult, but Jason was flying high enough that Percy could easily keep track of him. Sudden Jason looked down and a giant smile plastered his face. The next thing Percy knew, light erupted all around him. Fireworks.

The assailants came at him from all sides, four, maybe five. Percy guessed as he swung Riptide in a wide arc. ‘Concentrate!’ he told himself, feeling the water move through the forest, across the ground and then suddenly it was here. An inch or so of water covered the ground and Percy instantly knew where they were. He could sense where their feet touched the water. Using the butt of his sword he pushed behind him, feeling it connect with someone. He was still blinded but he was slowly regaining his vision. Concentrating he drew the water into itself pressurizing it before having it surge in a circular wave around him. It crashed into his assailants to Percy’s delight, but before he could bind them with it an arc of lightning crashed at his feet causing him to jump back. Percy rubbed some water in his eyes which quickly returned his eyesight to normal to see the figures of five Nike campers running quickly through the forest heading west, with Jason flying with them. Percy knew he would never catch up to them. With a sigh he started jogging back to the campsite. He was greeted with a very surprised Clarisse running up to him.

“Thank Ares, we thought they caught you.” She sounded relieved. Yet her voice seemed strained.

“Where’s Annabeth?” He inquired looking all around. Clarisse’s smiled thinned.

“They caught her, along with one of our flags.”

“Shit.” Was the only word he could articulate. Things were not off to a good start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know we didn't get much Nico or Will in this chapter but it was kinda important for me to set the stage a bit. Most of the chapters will focus on Will and Nico with small breaks for different character point of views and I hope that's ok with you guys.
> 
> New chapter, we rejoin Nico's plans and explain some questions I KNOW you guys will have. I don't plan to leave any plot holes and I am definitely a fan of Chekhov's gun so expect to have all your questions answered at some point.
> 
> Sound off in the comments below if you like how this is going or if you don't! All criticism is loved!


	4. Plan Blue Trout!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the last chapter and Nico takes action!

Jason: 15 Points || Nico: 0 Points || Percy: 0 Points

  
Things were off to a great start, thought Nico. As he looked around at his team. Well, tried to anyway. It was hard to see them too clearly in the darkness, but he could feel their presence. After they had arrived Nico had used his powers to locate a cave (Hazel could have found one sooner but he digressed…). It was to the south of the game zone and completely contained within it. He had positioned three Hecate kids to guard the entrance in two hour shifts, bending the mist to make the opening seem like a pile of rocks. He was very proud of himself.

Around him the Hephaestus campers were huddled in a corner working on their project while the rest of the Hecate kids were busy working on three doorways. Nico was sitting with both Lou Ellen and Leo in a circle around a fire that Leo had started.

“How much time left?” He asked Leo, who looked at his watch.

“4 and a half hours before nightfall.” Leo responded as Lou Ellen yawned.

“The cave was a good idea Nico, and the plan is right on schedule, but are you sure just sitting here till nightfall is a good idea?”

“Percy has both the Athena Cabin and the Ares Cabin, meeting them head on would be suicide. There is no way either our team or Jason’s could match Percy’s team in direct combat.” Started Nico, “Jason knows this, which is why, my bet is that he would hit them a little bit here and there, running when necessary.”

“Guerilla warfare.” Nodded Leo.

“Hermes is the god of thieves’ aswell, which means some of his kids have the ability to go unnoticed. It’s the way the Stoll brothers can throw so many pranks without being caught. It’s not invisibility per say, they just have a way of slipping your mind. It doesn’t work as well the stronger you are, so my bet is that Percy and I are a bit immune to it, but with that ability and Nike’s natural speed, my bet is that Jason will totally take first blood.” Pondered Nico. “That being said, you’re right, we have a plan but we can’t risk not getting into the action.” Plus, thought Nico, hiding in a cave wasn’t really proving anything to Will. Infact it seemed like he was proving _WILL_ right, but Nico knew his strengths and weaknesses better than nearly anyone else. Attacking now was not going to get him any points, but it was needed to get certain things set up.

“How much longer till both of your projects are done?” He asked. 

“The doorways should be finished in an hour.” Replied Lou Ellen. 

“Ours will take longer, maybe four hours?”

“That’s cutting it a little close isn’t it Leo?” Nico questioned, Leo shrugged but didn’t comment. Four hours was actually being generous. They would still need Lou Ellen and her gang for the finishing touches. Nico, sighed, “Ok, in that case Lou Ellen, have everyone ready to move in an hour and a half. Leo, anyone from your cabin who you can spare would be appreciated. Operation Blue Trout is a go!” Lou Ellen nodded and went back to her fellow campers to finish up working on Nico’s secret weapon.

***

“So he’s hiding?”

“I wouldn’t say hiding, more like planni-“

“But he’s not fighting?!” Will perked up to the look of a slightly disappointed Hazel. He had walked up to Hazel’s platform in order to ‘get a better view so as to know where to send medics’. However, Hazel was quickly realizing he just did it so he could know what Nico was up to. She knew Will meant well, but seeing it from Nico’s point of view, Will was being a wee bit over protective.

“Will, Nico can handle himself a lot better than you’d imagine. There haven’t been any real threats since Gaea, and no big prophecies since then so you haven’t seen him in action but Nico is ver-“

“I know he can handle himself Hazel, but I’m his boyfriend. It’s my job to look out for him.” Will argued, Hazel sighed and looked down at the game zone. It seemed that Jason had made it back to his ‘base’ so to speak. Currently Jason’s team was among some rocks to the west, with his flags on a wooden platform that could easily be picked up by three or four of his team and moved. She could already see him ordering them to move north, with a bound Annabeth in tow. An eagle came to rest beside her and a moment later Frank sprang up, to the shocked expression of Will.

“Jason’s scored first blood, so to speak. He’s already moving his base, sending Nike and Hermes scouts to find another location and it looks like booby trapping around their base with more fireworks.” Frank told the duo.

“Makes sense, gives them a pseudo alarm system, though how come they are only targeting Percy?” Asked Hazel, Frank looked down at the game zone through the eyes of a Praetor.

“Jason nor Nico can meet Percy’s team in open combat, capturing Annabeth is a huge advantage for Jason. She’s worth 5 points as a sub-captain and I bet Percy was depending on her a lot. Sneaking the Stoll brothers to catch a flag was genius, I’m guessing Annabeth wasn’t the target, just a really _REALLY_ lucky coincidence.”

“So he won’t attack Nico? Just go for Percy?” Asked Will, Frank shook his head. 

“It’s not that he won’t attack Nico, it’s just that he can’t find him.” Turning back to the game zone Frank gestured down, to where Percy’s team seemed to have huddled together and slowly moving towards the lake to the east. Will also noticed that the exact opposite was happening with Jason’s team, who seemed to be spreading outward. “But Jason’s scouts will eventually run into Nico’s base if he doesn’t do something about it. Manipulating the mist is great for hiding, but it also carries a huge weakness. If Nico is found before whatever plan he has is ready, he’d have lost all momentum and the element of surprise.” 

Will’s brow furrowed. ‘Nico…’ he thought ‘If it looks like you’ll be in a fight, just run.’ He prayed to his father that Nico would atleast have the sense to know not to pick a one-on-one fight with anybody. Especially Jason or Percy.

***

“I have a question.”

“What’s that?” Asked Chiron as he turned to look at the daughter of Zeus.

“Jason can fly and Nico can shadow travel. Why don’t they both just get the flags?” Thalia asked, she had been thinking about this. Wasn’t it easier and quicker for both of them to do that instead of fighting? Chiron smiled at her confusion.

“You never got a chance to play the game here Thalia, so I guess you never realized. Whoever is holding the flag, cannot use their demigod abilities. Well that and neither Nico nor Jason knew where the other team is… They’d have to find them first. So even though Nico _could_ shadow travel to a flag, he’d then be surrounded by a bunch of demigods without his powers.” Finished the centaur.

“Harsh.” Thalia replied, looking back down to the game zone, watching Jason’s scattered team reassembling together.

***

Jason arrived back at what he was calling their ‘base’ and placed Percy’s Blue flag with his own three. Annabeth (with her hands bound) came and sat down beside them aswell.

“Sorry Annabeth, do you want me to take them off?” Inquired Jason. Since she was caught she _technically_ couldn’t just run away. She had to wait to be saved by her team, so the handcuffs were more figurative than necessary.

“Nah I’m good. How did you find us so quickly?” She was curious. Jason smiled sheepishly, scratching his head.

“I had some Nike kids run in pairs with a camper from the Hermes cabin to scout out the area. I was looking for Nico initially but we couldn’t find him. I flew to the lake to see if I could find you guys but you weren’t there. Clara,’ He gestured to the head camper of the Nike Cabin who was currently casually drinking some water. ‘stumbled on your camp. She raced back and then we took some time to set some traps before attacking you guys.” Finished Jason. Annabeth had to admit, it was bad luck for them to be found, but other than that, Jason had a good strategy; but she had a better one. 

“You can’t meet us in open combat, since you’d definitely lose. Guerilla warfare was your best bet, and finding us so soon was a lucky break. With a strategy like that, being opportunistic is the only way you’d win.” She concluded to another smile from Jason. She had to admit, it was smart. However, as she saw him going back to direct his team and the way he single handedly lead them, she grinned. ‘Everything is going exactly as planned’ she thought. She only hoped Percy would be able to save her sooner rather than later, or else her whole strategy would go up in smoke.

***

“Everyone ready?” Asked Nico, the time had come to move out. With him was six campers of the Hephaestus cabin and the all the campers of the Hecate Cabin including Lou Ellen, who stood beside him giving her cabin instructions. They all nodded as Leo came over to where they were standing near the door.

“Hope everything goes well guys. We’ll be here working on this, and guarding our flags. See you when you get back yea?” He looked to Nico and Lou Ellen who both nodded. “Nico, you sure it’ll be ok with no one hiding the entrance? Without any of the Hecate kids, we have no camouflage.”

“It’s still well hidden, plus we need all the man power to hide these things,” Nico gestured to the two empty door frames that were being carried by the campers; the last one was leaning against the wall beside the remaining campers still tinkering away on the second part of the plan. 

“Alright, let’s head out!” He shouted as they lifted the doorframes and started to move out. Leaving a worried Leo behind. 

They were moving north, with the Hecate kids manipulating the mist to make it appear as though a slight breeze was responsible for moving the grass that was being trampled on. Suddenly Nico held up an arm and they all paused, running about 500 meters ahead was what appeared to be someone from the Nike cabin. They made no sound and waited till he was out of their field of vision before continuing on.

“It would be soo much more convenient if these thing could be shadow travelled.” Sighed Nico to the snarky huff of Lou Ellen. 

“Mom’s magic is fickle.” Explained Lou Ellen as they started walking again.  
The nearly ran into two more Nike scouts (Jesus Jason, aren’t so many scouts risky?!) with one of them coming rather close the third time. Enough so that Nico thought he could practically count the freckles on the girl’s face. Without a word Nico lead his team forward. Presently they came to a rather thick patch of woods and Nico gestured that they stop.

“Ok, I think we’re close enough to the south west border, this is a good a spot as any for the first one.” Lou Ellen nodded and with the help of the some of the campers erected the first door way. The Hecate cabin then all placed their hands on it and the runes that made up the frame started to emit a dim light, then within a minute, it faded from view.

“So no one should be able to see it for atleast six hours right?” Nico asked again.

“Not unless they physically touch it, no.” Responded a rather proud Lou Ellen, “Unless it’s not Jason or Percy looking directly at it…”. They could bend the mist really well but the more powerful the demigod, the less effective it was. The only people who could see through the mist that wasn’t a child of Hecate was probably children of the big three… among others. 

“It’s a necessary risk.” Nico countered, “Alright then, one down and one to go.” They all nodded, “We should be able to follow the fence Hazel created all the way till we hit the North border, after that I can shadow travel us back and then we’ll be that closer to winning this thing.” He said to the silent smiles of his team. He was pretty proud of thinking up this strategy. “Alright, let’s head out.” They started the trek to the north. Their path was a lot emptier the way there, for which they were all openly happy about. 

They had walked far enough that Nico felt it was a good spot as any for their second doorway. 

“Alright, I think I hear a stream, so let’s just move towards it a bit and we can place the second one there.” Nico grinned back at his team, who were all grateful that this ordeal was soon over with. They all walked a few steps before suddenly there was light all around.

“Fireworks?!” Shouted an off balance Lou Ellen as she shielded her eyes. 

“Activate the door!” Nico shouted to the Hecate kids, but fireworks had made them lose focus, which meant they were no longer invisible, which meant-

“Hey Nico.” Nico, squinted upward to see the grinning face of one Jason Grace, looking around he could see that they had walked practically into the middle of Jason’s base. About 100 meters to the left he could see Annabeth, three of Jason’s flags and one of Percy’s. 

“Hi Jason…” Nico sighed before he charged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me if you like how this is going so far guys! Initially I wanted to write a nice rom-com like fic about Nico and Jason and had one specific scene in mind, but then it ballooned into this monstrosity! I hope you guys are enjoying it though. My other fic idea will probably get written at some point but this is the fic i'm currently working on and I got to say, I am enjoying writing it. 
> 
> I have the next few chapters planned out but some criticism would be loved! Thanks for all the kudos and comments guys!


	5. The Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation of what happened last chapter. The stakes are raised as the Nico and Jason fight begins! 
> 
> This story is still Un-Beta'd so all mistakes are my own... Though if you want to point them out to me i'll make sure to fix them :)

Jason: 15 Points || Nico: 0 Points || Percy: 0 Points

  
It was chaos as Nico immediately sent shadows, stretching out towards Jason. His other team mates were strong but Nico knew he had to focus on the son of Jupiter if they stood any chance at getting away. He contemplated shadow travelling everyone to safety but they were moving around too much. He took a deep breath before summoning his strength and causing a large shadow to rise from the ground. It reached up, growing into a tall spire aimed directly at Jason.

“Fuck!” Jason yelled as he flew straight up and then turned 90 degrees to the right and flew straight down. Nico ran and jumped into the spire of pure black which suddenly took his shape. Suddenly Jason looked back to see an inky dark giant Nico reaching its shadow hand towards him. The shadow Nico roared, causing those fighting beneath him to stagger a bit. 

Seeing her chance Lou Ellen regained her footing and ran towards the door frame, praying that no one had noticed it. Reaching it she placed her hands and started chanting. With only her working on it, it would take longer but hopefully she could get it done in time. Looking up to see the giant form of Nico take a large sphere of lighting to his chest and stagger backwards a bit as it exploded, she chanced a glance at Jason. The son of Jupiter’s eyes were glowing white as white bolts of lightning seemed to be etched into his skin, also glowing brilliantly. She prayed to her mother that both of the demigods remembered this was a friendly competition and not a fight to the death.

***

“Lichtenberg Form!” Thalia shouted at the scene playing out inform of her. Her brother was flying very fast around Nico’s giant shadow form who seemed to have trouble keeping up with him. Still Thalia knew that one swat of the dark giants hand would hurt a lot. At the moment Jason seemed to have the upper hand with his speed and power but he needed to land a decisive blow quickly. She was using nearly all her power as a daughter of Zeus herself to stop the storm that usually accompanied the Lichtenberg form.

“This doesn’t look safe.” Came the worried voice of Piper, who had come to stand beside her. Chancing a look Thalia could see that she was looking onwards worryingly at both sons of the big three fighting all out. Suddenly Jason’s hand shined brightly and the brilliance blinded those around her. Thalia focused and could see clearly that Jason was powering up a White bolt. She grasped her bow and started to bring it up to fire it. ‘Damn it Jason, releasing that attack can cause way too much damage! What are you thinking’. However before she could draw her bow she saw Nico’s form shrinking.

“He’s using the light, not the attack itself.” She told no one as she lowered her bow, seeing the dark form of the son of hades shrink. She thanked the gods it wasn't night time. Were it dark, Nico would definitely not have been forced to back down so easily. Before she could breathe her sigh of relief, the light died and she saw something that really chilled her bones. A tall wave of water was approaching the battle. Ontop of it rode one Percy Jackson.

“You better ready your bow again, Hunter of Artemis… Though I really hope we won’t need it.” Said a solemn Chiron. He hope they realized that if they really went all out, only the gods themselves could restrain them.

***

“WILL NO!” Hazel called after the son of Apollo. Will has stood still long enough to see Nico go into his dark giant form before running down the steps off the platform.

“Frank go after him! He can’t go in there right now. He’ll get himself hurt trying to stop Nico.” Hazel yelled, turning back to look at the fight. Frank ran after Will as Hazel turned to look at Nico’s form shrinking from Jason’s charged attack. Jason was using the light to fight Nico’s shadows. Hazel thanked Hades that it wasn’t dark yet. Looking to the east she saw the waters of the lake slowing rising and she immediately regretted that it wasn’t infact night time. As she saw the wave start crashing towards the fight she felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hoped against hope that it was just a bad breakfast.

***

Nico’s dark form shrank smaller and smaller as Jason sent a bolt of lightning to the now only 7 foot form. It was hit square in the chest and the darkness gave way to an out of breath Nico. Nico cursed, it was definitely harder to keep that up in broad daylight. Looking up he could see the lighting marks on Jason’s body slowly receded as he was also out of breath.

Nico grimaced as he looked around to see that most of his team were captured, only two from the Hephaestus cabin remained upright and fighting. He started to rush over to help but before he could do that a bolt of lightning struck inform of him and one Jason grace hovered above him.

“Sorry Neeks, but I’m winning this figh-“ Before he could finish a giant wall of water hit him from above. Suddenly Nico realized he was surrounded by the Athena and Ares cabins. All around he could see the Hermes and Nike cabin give up their fight and grab captives and started running. “Good idea.” Nico thought as he started to run towards the two sons of Hephaestus that remained. Behind him he could see Jason fighting with Percy. Who had seemed to weave a net of water above Jason. Jason was fighting but Nico could tell we was too spent from their earlier fight to win, plus with the dome of water slowing forming above him, he was cut off from an escape route. 

Percy rode up on a wave towards Jason who used the opportunity to fly straight down, above him a net of swirling water had blocked his way to freedom bby flying up, so he figured if he flew straight down he could use the speed from his descent to fly close to the ground and escape.

“You guys were way too flashy to not be seen!” Percy laughed as geysers suddenly erupted from below, making Jason have to fly back up. He tried to concentrate and compact his power again. He could maybe go back into his Lichtenberg form but he would only be able to hold it for a short time. Just enough to get away he hoped. Above him it seemed Percy had the same idea. As the water forming the small dome joined with the water below and suddenly Jason found himself and Percy in a giant bubble. A huge sphere of water sitting in the middle of the forest. The walls were not just a small prick away from bursting however, infact they held swirling rapids and frothing currents. Jason knew that if he tried to force his way through them he was done for. He might be able to get through them but the energy it would take to do so would leave him way too tired to fight against Percy. 

“C’mon Jason, I wanted a fight!” Yelled Percy, looking up Jason knew he wasn’t winning this. Growing out of Percy’s back was long branching towers of coral. The seemed to be flooding the sphere as Jason noticed it was slowly filling up. With Percy drawing on nearly all his power and the sphere filling with water it was only a matter of time before he was captured. Percy reached back and pulled a long shard of coral off and before his eyes Jason saw it shape itself into a trident. This was bad, this was very bad. ‘Concentrate Grace!’ he scolded himself. Aiming directly at Percy Jason sent an arc of lighting at his foe. 

“Not strong enough!” Percy yelled as he quickly dodged it. The sphere was half filled with water now and Percy deemed it full enough. Looking at Jason he focused and pointed the trident at the son of Jupiter. Suddenly the coral on his back expanded, pillars rushed forward, branching out and splitting in two and three as they filled the sphere. Jason had no place to run and could only put his hands infront of him before the attack hit him head on.

***

Lou Ellen was running, the giant sphere of water was bad enough but in the chaos of Percy’s team joining the fight it seemed like Jason’s team had scattered, taking most of her team with them. Fortunately she had finished charging the now working doorframe just minutes before the arrival of Clarisse, she had seen an opportunity and had taken it, it being one of Jason’s flags.

Ofcourse that was the only lucky thing to have happened to her, seeing as both Clarisse and Clara Davis had arrived shortly after. Clarisse to release Annabeth, and Clara to grab the remaining flags (Two of her team’s and one of Percy’s) and quickly ran away and disappeared into the forest. It had given Lou Ellen enough time to get a head start but she quickly realized she was being pursued, by both Clarisse, Annabeth and, after Clarisse had shouted the command, most of their team as well.

“NICO HELP!” Lou Ellen screamed as she ran past Nico holding unto one of Jason’s Flags. Looking back Nico saw Clarisse and a newly released Annabeth running towards him with fifteen of their own campers in tow. 

“Seriously?” He wheezed out before he started running after Lou Ellen. He called to the two remaining Hephaestus campers to follow him. He considered shadow travelling; he could probably shadow travel him and the two Hephaestus campers to their base but that would mean leaving Lou Ellen on her own. Even for a short while, with her being the last of his Hecate cabin team mates, plus worth 5 points if caught, he didn’t want to risk it. Chancing a glance behind him, he could see the determined faces of Clarisse and Annabeth running after them. The plan had gone to hell and he could see them slowing gaining on him. In the distance he could see a large sphere of water slowly dissipate and crash to the forest floor, the waters seemed to direct themselves to the lake and he briefly wondered who had won. He guessed Percy since it seemed like her was directing the waters back to his base.

“THE BASE!” He screamed, he suddenly realized where Lou Ellen was taking the flag, which mean she was running to put it with the rest of his flags… at the base… Specifically the flag holder at his base… which meant she was leading them directly to where Leo and the others were working on the second part of the plan. If they got to Nico’s base he was nearly assured defeat.

“Lou Ellen! WAIT!” He screamed, his lungs were burning, he wondered how on earth was Lou Ellen still running, ahead of him he could see that she was nearly flying over the ground, the trees and shrubs whizzing past, a blur of green and brown. Nico quickened his pace, suddenly to his left one of the Hephaestus kids stumbled, and fell. He had barely stopped rolling when Clarisse was on him, slapping cuffs on his hand. 

“Nico… I… can’t…” Wheezed the other Hephaestus boy before slowing down to a stop, within seconds Annabeth had reached him and cuffed his hands signaling a capture before starting to run again. He could see that one of their cabin’s campers had remained with the two. Nico felt like screaming, he was going to lose. He was going to get captured and that would mean that Will would be right! 

“No Di Angelo, snap out of it!” he scolded himself, he can’t give up yet. “Look at the positives!” he yelled, “The slowed them down!” He reasoned. They had bought him 5 seconds tops, he needed to make those seconds count. Suddenly he could see Lou Ellen slowing down, within a minute he was next to her. 

“I… Can’t… Nico….” She wheezed, her face was red, sweat dripping down her brow.

“ALMOST THERE!” He shouted, it was true. The could see the mouth of the cave coming up. But it was an empty promise. The cave only had one entrance, he would have to hope Leo and the 5 remaining campers would be able to fight them off, logically he knew they couldn’t. Even with Leo and the rest of his cabin and even with it being in darkness, Ares and Athena were next to impossible for them, with such few numbers and Nico coming off a fight with Jason, to win in open warefare. Plus they were too close behind them for Nico to have enough time to shadow travel them all out to somewhere else. A small part of him was starting to fear that Will had been right.

“FEAR!” He shouted when realization hit him. They had arrived at the mouth of the caves and Lou Ellen ran ahead to put the flag in the base, and out of her hands. “GET READY TO GO DARK!” He shouted before turning around to face their pursuers. They had caught up surprisingly fast and Nico was shocked to see them nearly bearing down. Behind him he could hear Leo and the others had already gathered everything near the flags, all their supplies and their contraptions were ready to shadow travel. 

“DON”T GIVE HIM AN OPENNING!” Yelled Annabeth as she charged. 

‘Now or Never.’ Nico whispered to himself before closing his eyes, the combined forces of Athena and Ares were almost upon them when Nico opened his eyes and looked at them. His eyes were all black.

Annabeth knew that if Nico got enough time he would shadow travel his team away and they would be out of their grasp. Her plan had already come to fruition but adding Nico to their points would only solidify their victory. It was dark in the cave, with light coming in from behind them it was easier to see where to go but suddenly she felt herself slow down. As she stared at her opponents she saw an inky pair of dark eyes. She felt cold all over as she couldn’t help but stare at the hollow darkness before her. Her skin felt like it was being pricked by a thousand ice cold needles, she could hear Tartarus all around her, could feel the darkness like rough skin grating against her own. Could feel the blackness seep into her throat and penetrate her eyes. She felt fear. Unending fear fill every cell of her being. She suddenly didn’t care about the game, didn’t care about victory, she wanted out. She wanted to run, she wanted the sunlight and she wanted to scream; but she couldn’t. Her feet were like two lead pillars, her lungs filled with stones. All she could do was stare infront of her, rooted to the spot as the shadows seemed to come to life then suddenly it was gone. The fear ebbed away and she found herself standing with the rest of her team in an empty cave, alone.

***

A giant tree grew near in the forest to the left of the lake. It has taken a couple centuries to reach its current size but now it was enjoying all the benefits that came with age. It towered above a lot of its brethren and its branches spread wide, soaking up a lot of life giving sunlight. Beneath these branches few trees grew, not enough sunlight to sustain them. It was the shadow of this tree that suddenly seemed to give birth to a crowd of people, and their machinations.

Nico stayed standing long enough to make sure everyone had made it before choosing to crash to the ground. He could hear Leo’s surprised voice asking questions and Lou Ellen’s own answering them, although somewhat slowly. He gazed up at small sunbeams of light hit his face, they were safe. His fear aura had saved them at the last minute. But shadow travelling all of them had left him beat. Suddenly he heard Leo tense and stand up facing the rustling of leaves. A bush parted and Nico tilted his face to see the figure of one Will Solace standing before their group.

"Nico di Angelo,” Will started, looking over to his boyfriend sprawled on the ground. “I deem you unfit to continue this competition.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've become a bit busy with thesis work, so expect this series to update every friday as opposed to every tuesday and friday. I hope you guys will stick it out with me! Thanks for all your comments guys!


	6. Let's make a deal!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico's plan is in shambles. Most of his team has been captured by Jason's team, Percy has the upper hand and he barely mamanged to escape!
> 
> What happened when the love of your life asks tell you not to fight!? Find out in this thrilling installment of Nico's proving grounds!

Jason: 38 Points || Nico: 10 Points || Percy: 19 Points

***

  
Annabeth and Clarisse arrived back at their base with two of the captured Hephaestus campers, to the sight of Percy binding a very tired looking Jason next to their two remaining flags. It seemed that none of their team was captured and Annabeth smiled to see her plan working splendidly.

“Four more points for you here.” Clarisse yelled to Percy as she directed the two campers to sit with Jason. Technically Jason’s team was still winning but Annabeth knew that soon would change.

“We better start moving,” She motioned to a confused look from Percy. “It won’t be long before we’re attacked by the rest of his team.” She glanced at Jason. 

“How so?” Asked Percy, taking a seat beside the Son of Jupiter. He was tired. 

“Because that’s the next part of the plan.” Annabeth said, before she started gathering up their supplies. Percy looked on as Clarisse directed the rest of the campers to follow suit. As soon as Annabeth realized that Jason was going to use guerilla warfare, she knew they were in trouble. The only way to prevent that was to not split up, to present a united front, but that would mean not using any scouts and not having any information of their landscape short of moving the whole team. It wasn’t a position she wanted to be in. The best way to overcome Jason’s strategy was to make them meet them in open combat. Annabeth knew they never would, they didn’t need to. Therefore it became a riddle of how to force a team whose whole strategy was to hit and run, to stay and fight. They would not only need bait, but bait strong enough that they couldn’t refuse. They would need to capture Jason. 

“Come on guys, when this works we’d have pretty much won, we won’t even need to fight Nico again!”

She shouted at her team. She had allowed herself to be caught to make sure her plan would work, and being at Jason’s camp had confirmed her suspicion. Jason was the one calling the shots, he was the one making all the plans and he was the one with the sound strategic mind. In other words, he was the head of the operation. If they captured him, then his team would have no one to lead them, which meant they would come looking for him quickly. That meant they lost their biggest asset, their element of surprise. That also meant that Annabeth and her team could now set the rules as to where they would be confronted; and she knew just the place. In the middle of the large clearing they could wait until the other team came. Setting traps of their own, they would have the field advantage and forcing the other team to meet them in open combat would ensure their victory. Capturing all of Jason’s teams along with the campers Jason’s team had captured from Nico’s team would easily give them more than 100 points. With even more luck they could have it all finished before dark. She smiled as they started to move towards the large clearing.

***

“Nico, I deem you unfit to continue this competition.” Repeated Will, to the stunned looks of the six remaining members of Nico’s team. Nico himself slowly rose to stand facing Will. Over the years he had grown a lot, but he was still two inches shorter than his 6’1” boyfriend.

“Will, what are you doing here?” He asked, Nico kept telling himself maybe he misheard him, he prayed to Hades that Will was joking.

“You heard me death boy, you have to forfeit, it is way too dangerous, and you barely have team members left. Just forfeit now! No one will think less of you Neeks.” Pleaded Will. Nico’s expression changed from confused to anger and then slowly fell to disappointment.

“You want me to quit?” Nico, repeated. His voice barely higher than a whisper as his eyes were full of hurt. He lifted his face and stared directly at Will. “Listen you shining pile of shit, I am through trying to prove myself to you. I am through trying to explain that I am in control. Maybe I was a kid back when we first met but I’m not one anymore; if you can’t see that then-“ Nico paused his rant to take a step back from Will. “The maybe I’m through with you.” He said to the shocked expression on Will’s face. 

“You… you don’t mean that…” Will tried to retort. 

“Go back to the stands Will,” Nico turned his back on him and started addressing the rest of his team. “Let’s move a little more to the north, I didn’t shadow travel us too far and I rather avoid Percy and his team right now. Let’s move a little and rest a bit and regroup.” Heads nodded as they started packing up.

“Nico.” Will started, trembling as he fought back tears before steeling his resolve. “Nico, I am head camper of the Apollo Cabin and I deem you unfit to contin-“

“Actually,” Came the voice of Frank who materialized behind Will, Nico turned to look at the new arrival. “You can recommend a members removal but the final decision comes down to Chrion, Hazel and Thalia.” Frank looked at them both before continuing. “And after talking to all three, they unanimously rejected your recommendation.” Nico smiled at his future brother-in-law before he started walking, the rest of his team slowly following suit. Will made to follow aswell but he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

“Let them go Will,” He said as will stopped trying to struggle and just watched the boy he thought he would be with forever melt into the forest. 

“What do I do now, Frank?” Will whispered. Frank looked at him and thought of Hazel, he sighed as he started steering Will to one of the exits and out of the game zone.

“You fight Will, you fight.”

***

“Two hours till nightfall, though I don’t know if Nico alone will be able to turn the tide on Percy’s team.” Started Thalia, Chiron nodded as he looked toward the clearing and Percy’s team setting up right in the middle of it.

“It would seem that Percy has the upper hand, no surprise there with Annabeth on his team, though it seemed that she depended on her being rescued entirely on luck” Thalia continued, Chiron nodded again before Piper piped up (This is totally a pun that snuck in and I had no control over it :P )

“It seemed she had to risk it to get the biscuit.” She said, to the groans of one Thalia Grace.

***

“You moved the door?!” Nico asked, a tiny bit happier with their situation. He had become better at compartmentalizing his emotions over the years (now Tartarus was locked away in a small box in the back of his mind that he rarely touched) and he was deliberately not thinking about Will, or anything that would happen after this game was over. He would deal with all that once this was over with, and not a moment before. Right now he needed to concentrate on the game, a game he was losing badly. While they did have one of Jason’s flags, they were still trailing in the points, that and more than half of his team was captured.

“I was guarding the door when I saw your giant freaky dark look alike fighting captain marvel knockoff. I figured you had it under control but just incase something happened, I had Levi and Matt help me hide it. We didn’t go far, but I doubt Annabeth or Clarisse found it.” Shared Leo, to the relieved faces of Nico and Lou Ellen. 

“No, I doubt they did. Plus neither of them would know what they were even looking at if they had found it.” Started Lou Ellen, “We need to go get it, and I need to activate it.”

“My cabin and I need still need to finish up, we’re working with less campers so it will take another two hours.” Leo supplied, Nico nodded in understanding. He still had a plan, but his plan depended on having his full team there. Which meant that he needed to get them back. He didn’t have the manpower to do that, but he knew who did. 

“Leo, I need to you to go with Lou Ellen to activate the other door.” Turning to look at the four remaining Hephaestus campers, “I need you guys to finish up alright? We’ll need to hit them as soon as it’s dark.”

“What about you?” Asked Leo, as Lou Ellen rose to her admittedly tired feet. 

“I’m going to get our teammates back.” He said, as the shadows pooled around his feet, and in a second he was gone.

***

“Well that doesn’t look good.” Nico said as he stared at Percy’s team setting up in the clearing. He was standing at the top of a giant oak tree, looking down at the game zone. Normally he wouldn’t be up here, it was easy for someone to spot him and Jason could be flying nearby, but he noted that Percy’s team wasn’t really searching their surroundings, and Jason was captured so he should be ok. He was a bit surprised to see Jason captured, but looking down at them he realized what Annabeth was doing.

“Clara Davis and the Stoll Brothers will just attack head on to try and get Jason back, and they’ll just be picked off.” Nico realized that Percy’s team was poised to win, his plan would have been for nothing. That couldn’t happen. He called the shadows once again and once again he faded from view.

“Now the hard part,” Nico sighed as he started walking through the forest. He would have to find the team that didn’t want to be found. Though he realized that since he knew exactly where Percy’s team was (in their entirety) then he shouldn’t focus on finding Jason’s Team, he should focus on being able to be found. So he started shouting.

“Clara! Travis! Conner!” Shouted as he made his way through the forest. “I have a proposition for you!” He hoped he stumbled upon them soon. “I swear that I’m here for both out benefit!” He shouted again, he had walked for half an hour and covered perhaps 25% of the game zone, he was losing time. He hoped he found them before they attacked Percy. “Clara! Connor! Travis! Let’s make a deal!” Suddenly he realized someone was behind him, spinning around he came face to face with both Stoll brothers.

“Yo Nico, whats up?” Travis asked, but Nico could see they were both antsy, probably not trusting him to not try something crazy, he hoped they paid attention to his plan long enough.

“I know Percy has Jason,” He started, to both brothers smile faltering just a bit, Nico pushed on. “I also know that you guys are probably going to try and get him back. I also know if you do it now, you’ll lose the game and Percy will win.” The smile from both brothers was near non-existent now.

“You team relies on the element of surprise, you probably know that Jason is being held in a clearing and that you won’t have that advantage when you go to rescues him.” By now Nico, from the hard looks he was getting from the brothers, knew he was spot on. 

“I can give you that element of surprise back,” Nico supplied, the expressions on the Travis and Connor’s faces instantly lit up.

“Why would you do that?” A voice sounded as Clara Davis, head of the Nike cabin walked up next to both brothers. 

“Because I rather not end the game yet,” Nico said, “AND, in return for helping you, I want all the campers of my team that you caught, released.”

“No deal.” Responded Clara Davis instantly, Nico internally cringed. Travis and Connor looked puzzlingly at her. “Jason is worth 15 points, the campers we have are worth a lot more. We can give you back 7 of them.” Nico cringed again, Clara drove a hard bargain.

“Jason is worth a lot more than just points. He’s your team leader and your biggest asset. I want all my campers.” Nico retorted. Clara leered at him before speaking again.

“We’ll give you back 8 campers, rounding up.”

“Twelve campers.”

“Nine.”

“Ten!” Nico argued, Clara thought it over.

“Ten campers and you swear on the river Styx.” 

“For a capture the flag game?!” Nico gawked.

“I take winning _VERY_ seriously.” She replied, her voice like honey. Nico sighed, he knew this was as good as it was going to get.

“I swear on the river Styx, that if you give me back ten campers, I will shadow travel as many of your team into the middle of the clearing.” He replied, Clara Davis seemed content with this and put her hand out, Nico took it in his and shook it once. 

“Follow us.” She motioned for Nico as they started walking. Nico knew it was pointless to memorize where their base was since it would probably be moved the minute he left. It took a few minutes of walking before they came to a large rock. There was a thick section of bushes to the left of it and Connor, Travis and Clara didn’t hesitate a second before jumping into it. Nico braced himself and followed suit. 

He found himself in a rather dark area of woods. Jason’s team had all looked up to see him enter their clearing and looking around Nico spotted his members all sitting down, a little tired but no worse for wear. Clara walked over and removed the bonds on ten of them who all moved towards Nico. 

“Karina!” He motioned for the daughter of Hephaestus and quietly whispered where she could find the rest of their team. Karina nodded once and gestured for the rest of Nico’s previously captured team to follow. Nico nodded in their direction and waited till they were out of sight before turning to face Jason’s team.

“Alright then, ready when you are.” Nico said, looking to Clara Davis, who smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not THAT happy with this chapter, I still stand by it, and it does start to bring everything together for the final act, but I don;t know. Tell me what you guys think in the comments below!


	7. Dusk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico had made a deal with what remains of Jason't team. Find out how it plays out in this chilling installment!

Jason: 18 Points || Nico: 10 Points || Percy: 19 Points

  
Annabeth was worried. She had hoped that they could make it to the field before they were attacked, and they had. Her next worry was that her team wouldn’t have time to set up any traps, but they had! Now a different worry crossed her mind.

“Are you sure they’ll come.” Asked Percy once again. He was sitting down next to Jason who also had a confused look on his face.

“I mean, it’s what I thought would happen.” Jason contributed. He had honestly never imagined he’d be captured but now that he was, as much as he hated to admit, he thought for sure his team would come after him. There was no course of action they could take. The Stolls and Clara didn’t know each other well enough to plan anything but a direct attack. Even if they did, he didn't see any other way they could attack. Digging wasn't plausible in the amount of time they had, and without him, an aerial assault was out of the question. Which was why Jason was totally baffled as to why they hadn't been attacked yet. He could see Annabeth becoming antsy, she was not used to her plans failing. 

“If we stay out here any later it will be dark, they we’d just be sitting ducks for Nico.” Voiced Clarisse. Annabeth looked at her with a pained expression on her face before looking away.

“They’ll come…” She said, she was sure of it! There was nothing else that Jason’s team could do. They didn't have enough points, and they didn't have the manpower to catch the remainder of Nico’s team. She supposed with the point advantage they _could_ wait it out; but that just meant surviving the night against Nico’s team. Not plausible. “They need Jason.” She muttered. Still, even with all the logic behind it, they still hadn't attacked. 

“Do you think Nico might attack us while we’re open?” Asked Percy, Annabeth had thought about this too. 

“There aren't shadows in an open field in the daylight.” Countered Annabeth, although that wasn't completely true. They sun had started to set and the angle was causing the shadows of the trees at the edge of the forest to start stretching towards them, but those shadows were still a long way off, so even if Nico used them to shadow travel here, and attack, they would have a warning. Plus Nico didn't have enough members in his team to pose a significant threat at the moment. 

“Yea I guess you’re ri- HEY!” Yelled Percy, Annabeth turned away from looking to the tree line to look at Percy and realized her mistake at once. She cursed as she drew her sword but it was too late. All of her team mates were standing, and in the setting sun, cast long shadows themselves. Percy had called out because they all seemed to suddenly pool at the center of their formation and become more solid and then-

“BATTLE STATIONS!” Yelled Clarisse but it was too late, the Athena and Ares cabin were fighting in confusion at the appearance of twenty Nike and Hermes campers suddenly materializing among them. Annabeth cursed as she looked towards Percy, just in time to see her plan fall into further ruin.

“NICO!” Percy yelled as he drew Riptide, Nico answered by swinging his Stygian iron sword at Percy who parried gracefully before sidestepping and thrusting. However it seemed like Nico had predicted this as he blocked and took a step closer to the Son of Poseidon. Annabeth’s mind calculated exactly what would happen; as Percy saw his opening and swung his free hand, intending to punch the Son of Hades square in the chest. It was exactly what Nico was waiting for, and with his free hand he grabbed Percy’s fist and before Percy realized what was happening the shadows converged on them and Percy’s look of understanding was the last thing Annabeth saw before they were both swallowed up in the inky darkness.

***

Percy mentally fought Nico as they tumbled through nothingness, eventually he felt himself solid again as he hit the ground in an unknown part of the game zone. His insides felt like they might become his outsides at any given minute, yet Percy’s instincts kicked in and he managed to quickly jump back and stand upright to see Nico bracing himself against a tree looking at him.

“I forgot how hard it was to shadow travel someone who’s as strong as me and doesn't want to go.” He said, between breaths.

“I forgot how shadow travelling felt.” Percy responded, a smile forming on his lips. “Never expected you to team up with Jason.” 

“It was a onetime thing. I needed something from them, I offered my services.” 

“So here we are, alone with no one around to get in the way.” Percy started and Nico immediately screwed up his face is shock.

“Gods, Percy! Do you even know how dirty that sounds?” Commented Nico looking away, Percy’s face turned to a look of confusion and Nico remembered why it was always easy to feel like Percy was making suggestive situations. However that was a long time ago and what could once make Pre-teen Nico blush now made current Nico barf. Percy shrugged, not seeing the problem and took a stance as he looked to Nico as slowly, coral started to sprout from his back.

“I meant that we can go all out now and not have to worry about anyone getting hurt.” Percy supplied. Percy only got to fight a tired Jason, and he was itching to go head to head with someone. Being banned from playing capture the flag, and no true challenges happening in the last four years had made Percy long for a decent fight. A fight he knew could only come from a child of the Big Three. 

“Yea… not happening Percy. I just brought you here to even the odds a bit.” Nico grinned to see the disappointed look on Percy’s face as the shadows pooled around him and within a moment Nico was gone. The corals on Percy’s back slowly retreated and he cursed as he tried to figure out where Nico had left him.

***

“Thanks Travis!” Jason yelled as the Stoll brother remove his binding. Jason shot straight into the air to see what was happening. It seemed the surprise attack had indeed frazzled Percy’s team but Annabeth and Clarisse were rallying. It was time to leave.

“Retreat!” Jason yelled at his team, who all suddenly started running, the Nike kids faster than the others. “Watch out for a trap to your left!” Jason yelled to Clara, who expertly dodged left. The Ares and Athena campers were giving chase, but Jason knew they would only manage to catch two, maybe three of his campers. 

“Clarisse! We need to be faster!” Yelled Annabeth. She was hot on the heels of Travis but she had to keep her eye on him, if they made it into the forest their odds of catching any of Jason’s team would dramatically decrease. 

“On it!” Yelled the daughter of Ares. She slowed down as she gathered her strength before stopping all together and yelled as she punched the ground, a large crater formed where her fist impacted the earth. She jumped back and from the dirt, clawed forth two Symphalian birds. “ANNABETH!” Clarisse yelled as she jumped on the back of one. Both birds took to the air, one swooping towards Annabeth who in one fluid motion, jumped ontop it. 

“Did I ever mention how convenient this power of yours is?” Asked a near out of breath Annabeth. Clarisse looked over to her friend and smiled.

“You could stand to mention it more.” She retorted as she directed the birds to go after the fleeing campers. Clarisse, as a daughter of Ares, had developed the ability to call on the spirits of foes she vanquished in battle. These birds weren't real Symphalian birds (as those were monsters and as such were bound in the underworld) rather she would call what seemed to be a ghostly after image to fight for her when she needed them. Four years of training had made Clarisse a force to be reckoned with, and the countless missions she had successfully completed had given her a wide assortment of allies to call from. 

“Grab Connor!” She yelled and Annabeth pulled on the scruff of her bird to direct it towards a Nike camper. Annabeth and her mount dived down, picking up speed before the bird leveled off horizontally. The additional speed allowed her to catch up to the Nike camper and bracing herself Annabeth launched off the bird and landed squarely on the back of the Nike camper who fell to the ground. Without missing a beat, Annabeth quickly bound his hands, called to one of her own cabin to attend to him and jumped on the bird again who took flight. Back in the air she saw a struggling Connor in the talons of Clarisse’s bird. 

“We just might pull this off.” Annabeth yelled to her friend, but before Clarisse could call back an arc of lighting hit the bird head on. It dematerialized as Clarisse fell, Annabeth directed her mount over and stretched her hand forth and caught Clarisse, quickly pulling her unto the remaining bird and trying to slow their fall before they hit the ground. The seemed to be decreasing their speed but Annabeth quickly calculated that they would still crash into the ground before they leveled off, and sure enough, ten seconds later both girls hit the ground hard. Luckily the Symphalian bird broke their fall, quickly dematerializing from the damage.

“You alright?” Annabeth asked as she looked to Clarisse, who nodded. They both looked up to see Jason, flying into the forest, holding Conner in his hands as the boy put his hand to his forehead and imitated a princess pose. Within moments the rest of Jason’s team hit the tree line and disappeared from view.

“Well Fuck.” Was all Clarisse could say. Annabeth agreed wholeheartedly.

***

“Aaaannnnddddd… DONE!” Leo yelled as his newly returned cabin mates yelled in relief.

“Guess we’re up.” Lou Ellen said, as she directed her remaining campers to start their part of the Hephaestus machination. The shadows pooled around them and Nico stepped out from them. Leo smiled at him.

“Just in time Nico, we’re just about done with all the preparation.” Nico’s weary face graced his team with a smile before sitting down. 

“That’s great guys. We’ll move out as soon as everyone is rested.” He was happy that it was soon dark, but he really didn't anticipate that he would have had to have done so much shadow travelling and fighting. He was beat. 

“Oh we’re all fine. We ate a little bit of the ambrosia in you backpack. Hope you don’t mind.” Lou Ellen said as she continued with her work.

“Ambrosia in my backpack?” Nico looked up at her, “I never packed any ambrosia.” Although now that he thought about it, that was a great idea.

“You look like you need some.” Leo replied as he threw Nico he pack. Nico’s face was drawn in confusion as he looked inside and sure enough, beneath the packs of food and some bandages he found an open container that at one point had contained a health helping of Ambrosia. Though now it seemed to have been half gone. Taking out the container he felt something underneath. Pulling it off he realized it was a note.

“What the-?” Nico vocalized as he opened it, in plain handwriting that he immediately recognized were the words. ‘Stay safe death boy’. The emotions that had been held back slowly started to seep through as Nico smiled, “Will…” 

Nico put the note in his pocket and proceeded to eat a small chip of the ambrosia. He felt his strength return almost immediately. With his strength back so was his determination. The game had not gone exactly as he wanted it to, but it was time for some payback. It was Nico’s turn to call the shots. 

“We’re done.” Smiled Lou Ellen as she stood up. Nico looked up at his suddenly huge team.

“Alright then, everyone get ready.” He looked up as the last rays of the setting sun flashed over them, and then, darkness. “Let’s go win this!”

***

“It’s night time.” Commented Frank, looking down at the game zone from atop the stands.

“Yes, it is.” Agreed Hazel. As a child of Pluto she had learned to see in the dark a couple year back. Utilizing this gift now, she could see everything that was happening. Jason’s team had regrouped and stood at the ready. Percy had finally made it back to his team who also seemed to have clustered together, in a circular formation with people looking both inward and outward, with Percy, their flags, and the four campers they caught from Jason’s team in the middle; but it was Nico’s team that made Hazel smile. 

“Impressive, think Nico will be able to pull this off?” Frank asked, having shifted to an owl and back to have seen how the game zone was shaping up, before Hazel could respond a voice spoke up beside her.

“He’s got this.” Will said, his voice steeled with resolve. Hazel smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything is setting up for the final moments of this battle. Now that its finally night time, can you wait to see what Nico has been hiding up his sleeve this entire time? 
> 
> Will Percy get the fight he's been waiting for?
> 
> Will Jason's team survive the night?
> 
> Tell me what you guys think!


	8. Count me if you can!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first half of the battle starts as Nico launches his attack. How will this play out? Find out here!

Jason: 18 Points || Nico: 10 Points || Percy: 8 Points 

  
”I don’t like this at all.” Voiced Annabeth, all colour had finally drained from the sky and now she had half her campers looking outward and half inward, though it was really just for show. Clarisse looked over her shoulder and whispered.

“You sure we should stay in the same place we are?” 

“It doesn’t matter, its dark, no matter where we would have run, he would have been able to find us.” She responded. She needed a plan, hopefully Nico attacked Jason first, and that way they could sneak in and take him out while he was weak. Still, Annabeth knew not to put all her eggs in that basket. She needed a concrete plan. 

“I thought we had more captives.” Spoke up Percy, he was concentrating on pulling water from the lake to their clearing. He would need all his strength to fight both Jason and Nico.

“Nico freed the two Hephaestus campers when he surprised us.” Answered Annabeth. Try as she might, nothing came to mind. Strategy wise, she knew that whatever trick Nico planned was going to be a total surprise. She couldn’t anticipate it, which mean she had to plan for a scenario she knew nothing about, she needed to be more reactive. Annabeth sighed, she wasn’t that reactive, but she knew who was.

“Clarisse, you’ll have to take the lead on this one. If Nico attacks, call the shots.” She whispered over to the daughter of Ares. Clarisse looked over and nodded, while Annabeth gripped the bag at her side. It was what she had brought into the game, she was relatively new to this new power that her mother had blessed her with, but she hoped it would serve her well.

***

A cascade of fireworks was poured infront of Jason. He looked up to both Stoll brothers and their awkward smiles.

“There, that’s all we brought.” 

“It should be enough to give us an advantage.” Jason said, eyeing the explosives. They needed light to combat Nico. He had had some time to rest while he was captured and now he was ready to go. All the fireworks combined with his lightning should keep him at bay, hopefully Nico realized this and he attacked Percy first, that way Jason and his team could attack them both after they had tired each other out; sort of what Percy did last time. Ofcourse they weren’t sure _WHO_ Nico would attack first, but whoever it was, the other team would be poised to come clean up the battlefield and potentially win. 

“I feel a victory coming on.” Spoke up Clara all of a sudden.

“Ours?” Questioned Jason, to which she only shrugged and looked out towards the darkness between the trees.

***

“Well this is fun.” Complained Piper. She had come to stand up beside Chiron and Thalia, both of whom were looking over the dark tree tops, not really at anything specific. “I can’t see anything!”

Thalia looked over to Piper before looking towards Chiron, “She’s not wrong.” Before the centaur could speak an out of breath camper could be heard climbing the steps to their platform.

“I… have… these… for….” She panted as she reached into her backpack and handed Chiron what appeared to be a pair of goggles.

“Night vision?” Thalia asked, as Piper perked up and reached for her own.

“Leo had them… made last night incase… it got too dark to see… what was going on…” She explained, before waving and running down the steps after handing all three out. 

“Thoughtful of him,” started Annabeth as she donned them on. Looking towards the now lit up game zone she gasped. At the sight before her.

“NICO IS ATTACKING JASON!” Piper shouted beside her, it was true. A giant shadow had erupted and seemed to stomping the ground, Nike campers could be seen running around his feet while an airborne Jason was trying his best to both fly around Nico’s limbs and attack him with his Gladius. Though it seemed to be going nowhere.

“Strange…” Voiced Thalia, as much as she could see Jason flying around, he didn’t seem to be shooting any lightning at the son of Hades, strange… strange indeed.

***

“EVERYONE GET READY!” Shouted Jason, he could see Nico’s giant form being hit by Percy, who seemed to be riding another ghostly Symphalian bird. He had taken to flying in the air the second he noticed the dark form rising, and now he could clearly see Nico trying to swat Percy down from the air. He dived down towards his team.

“Clara, we don’t need scouts this time, get you cabin ready to transport the fireworks, Travis, Connor, we need to make sure we have enough points to win, so both of you need to stay behind with the points we have now, don’t get discovered,” looking back at the rest of his team, “Everyone else, prepare to move out, on my signal, we attack the winner between Nico and Percy!” Jason shouted as he flew forward, the rest of his cabin running behind him.

***

Annabeth was running, beside her was Percy and Clarisse. They had left two Athena campers and one Ares camper behind to watch their flags and captives. It seemed the giant Nico shadow was shrinking, before she saw it hit Jason head on and he seemed to drop out of the air. She calculated that they would get there within a few minutes. Perfect timing to beat the tired Nico and win this thing before they did.

“Brace yourselves!” Clarisse screamed behind her as they burst through the shrubs to find a small clearing… with no one in sight.

“What the-“ Annabeth though before a noise of a great number of people could be heard and before her eyes Jason’s team burst from the opposite end of the clearing, they stopped in their tracks when they saw the entirety of Percy’s team staring them down. It was then that Annabeth deciphered what they had seen. An illusion! Built by the Hecate campers intended to bring both Percy’s and Jason’s team together to fight each other.

“Don’t fight! Nico wants us to tire each other out!” She shouted, Percy’s head swiveled to look at her direction. Before he could respond, from the corner of his eye, Percy saw them emerge.

“What the Fuck?!” Yelled Jason, for it seemed both teams were surrounded. The shadows pooled in between both teams and one Nico di Angelo stepped forth.

“CHARGE!” Nico yelled, and his team did just that.

‘This can’t be real.’ Thought Annabeth as she dodged a sword from Lou Ellen and swung her own laterally. Lou Ellen smiled as she bent her whole body backward, seemingly to a perfect 90 degrees. ‘She must be amazing at limbo.’ Annabeth’s brain supplied as she swung again. Around her she could hear the three way battle raging on. Still, it was impossible! The troops Nico lead into the fight was waaay more campers than she thought he had, heck it was more campers that all three teams combined! What was happening here? Annabeth jumped back from a sword swing, but it was too dark to see and she felt foot hit a rock, she was aware that she was falling and quickly spun around to right herself. Looking up she saw something that confused her to no end. Clarisse was in a serious fight as well… also with Lou Ellen. Turning around she saw the other Lou Ellen advancing towards her.

“Illusion!” She realized, they both had been dodging, neither she nor the “Lou Ellen” had landed a single blow, she had been fighting an illusion all along! Since she had seen the Lou Ellen fighting Clarisse block one of Clarisse’s sword thrusts, then it meant that this Lou Ellen was definitely an illusion. ‘Fake’ Lou Ellen swung her sword and Annabeth instinctively dogged to the right, the fake Lou Ellen then turned to face her way too fast and made as if to kick her. Annabeth smiled as she did nothing but stand there and wait for the fake Lou Ellen to pass right through her. 

“ARGH!” She yelled as she was thrown into the dirt. Her mind raced as she looked up, the kick was real. The pain was real, and the strength was insane! Whatever it was that was fighting her was not fake. It was real, which meant… “What is going on!” Her voice rang out as she rolled to the side, a foot missing her stomach by an inch.

***

“Come on!” Nico yelled as a long tendril of darkness spewed forth. Jason nimbly dodged before aiming a lightning bolt at Nico. A sphere or darkness seemed to form between Nico and the attack, when the lightning collided with it a large explosion followed.

As smoke cleared a dark figure stepped forth. Nico’s eyes were all black, as was the rest of him. His whole being seemed to be a shadow, a shade of night slightly darker than the rest. 

“Fair enough.” Answered Jason as he saw the shadow Nico appear. They had run a bit away from where the main battle was taking place, they were far enough away that Jason though he could flex his muscles a bit. “Though I really think Percy should get it on this!” Jason yelled down to the admittedly scary looking son of Hades. 

“I’m here!” Came the sound of Percy who had appeared, looking out of breath. “Just give me a second… I had to chase you guys here!” If he had pupils, Nico’s eyeroll would have matched Jason’s. Percy smiled at them both before his own eyes start to glow. Jason’s own soon followed.

***

“This is insane!” Yelled Clarisse as she managed to punch Leo square in the jaw. He fell, only for two other Leos to run and replace him in the fight. Clarisse jumped back, and prayed to her father. Presently from the ground rose four ghostly looking hell hounds. Before she could give the order to attack, a Hecate Camper appeared beside the Leos clapped her hands and threw what looked to be a grenade. Clarisse jumped back as it exploded between her hell hounds. The cleared smoke revealed all to remain were four hell… puppies?

“Cute, no?” Asked the girl as she inhaled deeply. She exhaled a green mist which formed into two ‘humanoids’ beside here, the mist slowly solidified to resemble two other Leos. “There, now it’s five on five.” 

“Mist forms?” That explained SOME things, but not nearly enough to justify fighting this many people. She was sure she had beaten 3 copies of the same campers, each as solid and real as the next. Yet every time she did, others stepped in their place. “There are way too many people here to be only mistforms!” Clarisse yelled, as she charged, the puppies following suit. She hit one Leo with the butt of her sword before turning to parry another’s blow. Clarisse swung her sword in an arc in front of her, causing three Leos and the Hecate girl to jump back to avoid it. Using the small opening she placed her hands on the ground and prayed once more. Two ghostly faces materialized in the ground before the rest of them rose. 

“Play with my Manticores for a bit.” She said as Clarisse herself lunged for the Hecate girl, who turned and started running.

“THEY’RE MISTFORMS! ROUT THE HECATE CABIN!” Clarisse shouted as she gave chase. She could see some of her cabin start to follow her orders. The Hecate girl ran away from the fight, but also towards the game zone wall, she was trapped. The Hecate girl suddenly seemed to slow down, turning around she smiled as she jumped seemingly into thin air and was gone.

“Mist illusion?!” She asked aloud as she suddenly from the same spot that the previous Hecate girl had disappeared stepped a new one.

“Hi Clarisse.” Lou Ellen smiled, in both hands the daughter of Hecate held torches, who at once lit on fire, seemingly by magic. Their purple flames casting odd shadows to dance about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first half of the battle! Annabeth can't make heads or tails of whats happening, can you?
> 
> I had in my head what Nico's plan was, what Leo and his cabin were building and what the Hecate campers would bring to the table, however i've been hyping it up so much i'm a bit afraid that the reveal won't be as great as you all think. Hopefully I can deliver, in all honestly even though this was planned ahead of time it does seem confusing to know what;s happening. I hope to clear everything up soon though! We're winding down on this fic, I suspect only two more chapters (unless something happens to merit another) hopefully all your predictions will come true!


	9. One on One on One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico felt the shadows around him magnify. He could feel the presence of every being who had stood in the area, who now slept underground. He could feel the pull of all the dark crevices in every nook and every cranny of the game zone. Could feel the fear of not knowing what was happening of every camper still fighting his small army of automatons and mist forms. Nico smiled.

Jason: ?? Points || Nico: ?? Points || Percy: ?? Points

  
“’You get the easy part, Leo.’ They said.” Leo grumbled as he trekked through the dimly lit forest. “’Won’t even have to fight!’ they said.” Beside him, the two Stoll brothers walked in tandem, their wrists bound, their clothes scorched.

“Do you always talk to yourself-“ Started Connor,

“Or are we special?” finished Travis.

“’No one will be at the flags.’ They said.” Leo continued, ignoring both brothers. In the distance he could hear the fighting continuing. Now an again a flash of light would rip across the sky, ’probably Jason’ Leo thought. Nico has asked him to find Jason’s team flags and bring them back to their base. Nico has probably assumed that with the final fight, Jason wouldn’t leave anyone guarding them. He had been wrong. Leo had arrived to find both Stoll brothers chilling out and with no backup, had to face them both one on two. It had taken a while but he had succeeded in defeating them both, with a combination of fire and luck. They had finally arrived at Nico’s base and Leo dropped into a seating position beside the large doorframe. Exhausted. 

“There, 17 points.” He sighed as he threw the flag in the direction of the others. The Stoll brothers proceeded to go sit down beside what appeared to be a large number of captured campers. A few Hephaestus campers were standing watch. Presently the door frame glowed and a surprised looking Clarisse tumbled through, a second later Lou Ellen walked through aswell, before falling down herself.

“I'm beat.” She muttered. 

“La Rue? Impressive.” Leo smirked at her. Lou Ellen smiled back before she grimaced in pain.

“It could have gone either way really. Mom’s torches saved me, but barely.” She turned her head to look at him. “How many points do we have now?” 

“Who knows?” Leo answered. All he knew was that it couldn’t be a hundred yet, or Chiron would have announced it.

“Should we go back?” Lou Ellen asked instead.

“Nah, if we go back we’d just get captured. I’m too tired to fight, besides the automatons will wear the rest of the campers out.”

“Man those things are tough! You guys did great.” 

“Thanks, but it was Nico’s idea in the first place.” Leo answered. He remembered yesterday. Leo was all set to join Jason’s team, and when someone had knocked on the Hephaestus cabin, Leo had assumed it was Jason. It was not Jason. Initially Leo had a mind to refuse the son of Hades, and holding out of Jason to ask him. But after hearing Nico’s plan he had said yes immediately. 

“Say what you want about death boy, but he has an imagination. He came in and asked me if the Hephaestus campers could build robots. Ofcourse we can! He then asked me if we could build 50 for tomorrow. Ofcourse we can’t!” Leo continued, animatedly telling Lou Ellen the story.

“He asked me how many mist forms we could produce. I told him there were only a handful of Hecate kids who could probably manifest one. He asked me to gather 10 campers who could manifest two at least.” Lou Ellen smiled at the memory. “Say what you want about Nico, but he has a way of making you believe not to underestimate yourself.” Leo nodded in agreement.

“It was a good plan. Flood the fight with fake campers while the real ones stayed at the back, waiting till they were exhausted from fighting the fakes.”

“Build doorways that Hecate kids can travel through so none of the campers could follow us to our base.” Lou Ellen continued the story. “Hecate is also the goddess of the crossroads. Able to travel to all of the big three’s realms through doorways. I didn’t even think about using doorways.” She answered. Now that she thought about it, Lou Ellen saw the elegance in Nico’s plan. With the Hecate campers all using illusions all the while, when the mistforms and the Hephaestus cabin’s automatons strolled unto the battlefield, the other’s first thought they were only illusions, and so they had the element of surprise. Couple it with Lou Ellen and her siblings bending the mist so the automatons looked like the campers, it confused the other teams. Plus Lou Ellen and her siblings running through all three doors all across the battlefield, it seemed like they were everywhere. With only 22 campers, Nico had made it look like his team was infinite and near unbelievable. He fought with his mind, he fought with perceptions, and it was impressive as hell. It gave Lou Ellen the courage and belief that she was capable of defeating someone as powerful as Clarisse, and she had. Looking towards where lighting was popping up every now and then, she had the utmost confidence that Nico could hold his own against both Percy and Jason till they had gathered all the points needed to win. 

“I guess we can rest here a while, Nico’s got this.” Leo commented, seemingly reading her mind. 

“Yea.” She agreed, as she laid down on the cool grass and rested.

***

Lightning stuck the ground, causing crystal patterns in the ground to form. The arc of pure electricity held its shade as it surged forward, a blade of light being dragged across the earth. A wall of water met it head on and a loud explosion could be heard as water and steam spew outward from the impact.

“Nice try!” Yelled Percy Jackson, he stood surrounded by a swiftly expanding lake of water around him. On his back, rough red corals seemed to be spewing water ferociously, white water gushing from where it hit the ground. Above, Jason was shining luminously, exuding light in the night as electricity seemed to dance on his skin. 

“Nice block!” Yelled down Jason as he dived forward, in his hands a white bolt clutched tightly, it was no master bolt, but it was still very powerful. Unlike his dad’s weapon, it was solidified lighting, held together by his concentration. 

“You guys are idiots.” Commented Nico, as he seemed to materialize in the air above Percy, using the momentum of his fall, he swung his stygian sword downward, the air itself seemed to scream as the sword cut through it. Percy clutched the coral trident at plunged the tri-pointed head into the waters at his feet, which quickly started to ripple before surging a column of water towards both Nico and Jason. 

“Damnit Jackson.” Yelled Nico before his sword crashed into the column of water. The tower of water pushed Nico upwards, the major damage deflected by the blade. Jason had managed to dodge the column aimed at him by swerving to the left, thrusting one of the ends of the bolt into the fleeting column, he flew straight at Percy, a trail of steam behind him.

“Down boy!” Yelled Percy, a whirlpool seemed to form beneath Jason as long octopus like tendrils made of water and coral lunged forth and grabbed him, pulling him into the swiftly spinning waters. Above Nico finally managed to deflect the column of water and was falling again. He concentrated and the shadows extended from the trees to catch him, he melted into them and emerged from under a tree to Percy’s left. He debated letting Percy finish Jason off but figured it wasn’t all that fair. He held out his stygian sword and called the shadows forth. The elongated tendrils of night engulfed his blade and when Nico pulled it forth it had formed into a scythe. The runes of night etched on its dark blade, its snath a rich russet hue. 

“Nice…” He smiled, a scythe was soooo cliché, Hades was not the god of death, and a scythe had more to do with Demeter and the changing of the seasons, but Nico supposed it would do. He’d never tried this weapon out before. He gripped top and bottom with both hands and swung. The blade surged forth, its shadow elongating, reaching forward in a large crescent shape towards both Percy and Jason. The crescent of dark missed both boys, instead soaring above their heads and into the tree line, it seemed to melt into the forest, a moment later the tops of all the trees in the direction Nico had swung topped off, they trunks decayed, their leaves, brown. Percy and Jason looked over to the destruction left behind, before both turning to look at Nico.

“Oops?” He supplied. 

“Nico what the hell?!” Jason asked as he stuck a downward blow with his white bolt, the whirlpool exploded outward, the water evaporating on contact, Jason flew out of it and turned to look at him as Percy held his own coral trident tightly in his hands. 

“I haven’t used this before ok! I only just managed to form this thing,” he argued, as he gripped it tight and prepared to swing it again. Percy instinctively thrust forward with his trident, the waters towered high and rushed outwards in a circular pattern, Jason flew high and gripped his bolt tight, he reached back as the waters spread out, took aim and lunged the bolt forward towards Percy. 

It happened in a flash of light, the bolt travelling near instantaneously, Percy had the good sense to hold onto his coral trident which the bolt impacted with. The air around Percy exploded, a giant bolt of lightning crackling into the sky as for a second, night turned to day. Nico was blown back, his scythe flying out of his hands, burying itself in the truck of a great oak tree, which promptly died. Jason was flung back from the force of the shockwave generated, hitting the ground about a hundred meters from where Nico lay.

“That… could have been worse…” Came the shaky voice of Percy, Nico looked up to see Percy leaning on his trident, two prongs were broken and the rest of it seemed charred. Percy himself seemed to be barely standing, the waters around him, turned to mud. Percy slid down his glorified walking stick to kneel in the small puddle of dirty water around him. “Well fuck.” He said and he fell face first on the ground. Nico melted into the ground and raced towards him, solidifying next to him and gently turned him around. Percy was smiling, against all odds.

“Guess I’m out.” He tried to laugh, but his whole body hurt too much. Nico smirked. 

“You should have dodged you idiot.” He said as he propped him against a tree. Jason flew over. 

“Are you okay Perce?” He asked, Percy nodded as he looked up at them both. “Just got the air knocked out of me. I’ll be fine. In any case, it means I can watch the fight up close now.” Nico smirked and looked at Jason who shrugged and stood up.

“Alright then,” He flew a ways away. To the north end, away from both the remaining warring campers and a tired Percy (who Nico had shadow travelled to a small cliff, enough to partially see the remaining fight).

“Let’s finish this Neeks.” Jason called to the son of Hades, his palms glowing, already calling lighting to grant another bolt. His limit was two at a time, he had one more shot to end this game. Nico held out his hand and presently the dark scythe flew into it. Gripping in, Nico felt the shadows around him magnify. He could feel the presence of every being who had stood in the area, who now slept underground. He could feel the pull of all the dark crevices in every nook and every cranny of the game zone. Could feel the fear of not knowing what was happening of every camper still fighting his small army of automatons and mist forms. Nico smiled.

“Bring it Grace!” He surged forward.

***

“They’re insane.” Shuddered Piper, the light show that accompanied Jason’s attack had nearly blinded her. She was always told that children of the big three were more powerful that the rest of them. Theseus, Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, heroes of ancient times. She now understood what power they had, those who fought monsters and wars and came out the other side, monsters themselves.

“In retrospect, maybe it was a bad idea…” Thalia proposed. 

“Most definitely.” Chiron agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long hiatus guys! I'm super sorry! The last couple of weeks were filled with thesis writing. But fear not, I have not given up on this series, there is one final chapter after this one. Who will the winner be? Stay tuned to find out. 
> 
> Sorry if I let you down with the big reveal to Nico's plan. I'm hoping the final fight between the three entertained you enough for you to forgive that little bit of plot. Constructive comments are loved.
> 
> Also check the end notes of the next chapter for a little surprise from me to you all :)
> 
> Thank you guys for staying with me, and I hope to hear you sound off in the comments below!


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